You better believe it. The Shadowhawk is the latest development in automated grenade flinging Ė a remote controlled toy-sized helicopter that can record footage as easily as it can shoot a stun baton. You might spot the mini-drone zipping over the coast of East Africa looking out for pirates, or back at home helping the police hunt down criminals.

Vanguard Defense, who spent three years developing this buzzing robot, sure packed a lot into the copterís seven-foot, 50-lb frame. The Shadowhawk comes in five different varieties and can be outfitted with a turbine or piston engine, CCD TV optics, infrared and thermal cameras, laser pointers, illuminators and range finders. Law enforcement has the option of adding 37 mm or 40mm grenade launchers, or if they feel adventurous, a 12 gauge shotgun. And who knows what other features come with the specialty military version of the chopper.

The Shadowhawk would be able to patrol the land or the sea for up to 2.5 hours at a time at speeds of up to 70 mph. You might think a gust of wind would knock the mini-copter out of the air, but itís capable of withstanding gusts of up to 50mph. Through out it all, the camera keeps rolling.

Vanguard has already been awarded a multi-million dollar deal to use the robo-copters for anti-piracy missions in Africa, but its hopes for the little tasering robot soar much higher. It envisions the Shadowhawk helping out in everything from tactical night ops to arms trafficking surveillance, from oil rig inspections to perimeter security. Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel of Montgomery County Texas says he canít wait to use it for SWAT callouts and narcotics raids.

So pirates and crooks, beware. This little bot may not look like much Ė but when youíve been knocked to the ground and lost all motor skills, youíll remember the Shadowhawk.

For the second time since Sunday an intruder made it onto the White House grounds Tuesday night before being captured by Secret Service agents with guns drawn. It was not Joe Biden.

The incident occurred during a live CNN show, "John King USA." The capture was captured on video. Scroll down to watch.

The incident began when a black man threw a backpack onto the lawn and then climbed over the fence.

Although the Salahis and before them Kevin Kline in "Dave" made entering and exiting the White House look easy, truth is it's a very secure place. Those wide open grassy areas may look empty, but they are not.

Within seconds, Secret Service agents with pistols and automatic weapons were cautiously approaching and shouting at the man to lie face down on the ground. He complied. He was frisked, handcuffed and led away under arrest.

Officials identified Tuesday's intruder as James Crudup, a 41-year-old homeless man. Due to previous incidents there, he was charged with violating a court order to stay away from the presidential residence and with unlawful entry.

Sunday night another intruder made it onto the grounds before apprehension. But she was a 6-year-old girl who slipped through the bars of the fence.

The youngster is still undergoing interrogation. No, just kidding. She was returned to her parents outside the fence.

For those of you who donít know, we here at GeekTyrant live for Comic-Con. A week out from it and I am already feeling withdrawals. Every year we go into the Con with high expectations that something is going to blow us away. We have gone for many years and we have yet to be disappointed. So, because of the time and the effort that the film makers have put into bringing us pure awesomeness, we have decided to give recognition to who ever really stepped up their game.

The winner of the first ever KING OF THE CON Award goes to Jon Favreau. I have to think of this as an award that he has deserved for the last couple of years. There were a lot of cool things brought to us this year; however, Favreau brought the red carpet to SDCC 2011. He has figured out the perfect formula to make the fan boys drool and to get the bloggers singing his praise. Last year he shot and edited a scene from Cowboys and Aliens just for the fans at Comic-Con. Then this year not only did he bring us Cowboys and Aliens, but he made Hollywood come to us for the red carpet premier of the film. Venkman and I were allowed to attend the star studded event and we were not disappointed. The movie was everything I expected and more.

I think what put him over the top for this award was the fact that after the movie was over, instead of leaving and going about his business, he hung out with his fans. I didnít see a single person turned away from an autograph or a picture. That kind of solidarity with us, the fans, is the reason why he wins the first annual King of the Con Award.

I know that Favreau loves Comic-Con and if he has anything to say about it he will be bringing amazingness to us next year, but he will have some stiff competition. I have a feeling he will defend his title well.

Toys are no longer just for kids, they are now for grownups too. I have friends and family members that collect unique figurines and action figures that are very expensive, and they keep them in mint condition. They even dedicate an entire room to them, or they have custom made casings to display their collection. One collection that I would really love to complete is the Star Wars collection I found at Think Geek: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/plush/e503/?cpg=cj&ref=&CJURL=&CID=3224934 (they are on sale right now. Crystal)

Everyone loves the metal version of the Star Wars characters, but I am sure there are occasions when it would be good to snuggle or hug one when we sleep.

Not only are they huggable, but each character makes their signature sound when you squeeze them.

Chewbacca has his famous growling wookie sound, R2D2 with his blips, Vader with his low breathing sound and Yoda has his wise voice and gives Jedi advice. Another cool feature is that you have an option as to the size of the plush characters. They come in 4Āć, 9Āć and 15Āć. The 4Āć ones can be used to spruce up your back pack, keys or laptop bags. The large ones are mainly for hugging. I think that itĀfs a great gift for your geek friends this coming holiday season! The prices range from $8.99 to $39.99. I have included a video for how the plush toys work. I believe this is one guilty pleasure you would want your geek friends to indulge in!

In March of this year, we posted here about a young man, USMC Sergeant Jake Chadwick. As you'll recall, Jake needs a kidney transplant as both of his are inexplicably failing. From all of the coverage provided by KNBC in Los Angeles, KNSD in San Diego, and other news media that carried the story around the country, a donor had been found for Jake and we had great hopes for his recovery. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the initial donation will occur and the search for a new kidney donor must begin anew.

Due to confidentiality policies, there is very little information the Center for Transplantation at the University of California at San Diego is able to provide as to the number of potential donors they may have for Jake, so we want to get the word out to as many people as possible. The more people who are tested, the better the chance a donor will be found.

Initial testing is easy from the donor perspective:

A simple blood test is all that is needed to start.

It takes about three weeks to receive test results.

To be considered a potential kidney donor for Sgt. Chadwick, you must be blood type O, it makes no difference whether positive or negative.

If you or anyone you know would like to be considered as a donor for Jake, please contact Alejandra Munoz directly at the UCSD Transplant Center: (619) 574-8612.

ďMagnetite 3D Colloidal Crystals Formed in the Early Solar System 4.6 Billion Years AgoĒ

Journal of the American Chemical Society

Scientists have found opal-like crystals in the Tagish Lake meteorite, which fell to Earth in Canada in 2000. This is the first extraterrestrial discovery of these unusual crystals, which may have formed in the primordial cloud of dust that produced the sun and planets of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago, according to a report in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Katsuo Tsukamoto and colleagues say that colloidal crystals such as opals, which form as an orderly array of particles, are of great interest to for their potential use in new electronics and optical devices. Surprisingly, the crystals in the meteorite are composed of magnetite, which scientists thought could not assemble into such a crystal because magnetic attractions might pack the atoms together too tightly. ďWe believe that, if synthesized, magnetite colloidal crystals have promising potential as a novel functional material,Ē the article notes.

The formation of colloidal crystals in the meteorite implies that several conditions must have existed when they formed. ďFirst, a certain amount of solution water must have been present in the meteorite to disperse the colloidal particles,Ē the report explains. ďThe solution water must have been confined in small voids, in which colloidal crystallization takes place. These conditions, along with evidence from similar meteorites, suggest that the crystals may have formed 4.6 billion years ago.Ē

ďMagnetite 3D Colloidal Crystals Formed in the Early Solar System 4.6 Billion Years AgoĒ

Journal of the American Chemical Society

Scientists have found opal-like crystals in the Tagish Lake meteorite, which fell to Earth in Canada in 2000. This is the first extraterrestrial discovery of these unusual crystals, which may have formed in the primordial cloud of dust that produced the sun and planets of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago, according to a report in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Katsuo Tsukamoto and colleagues say that colloidal crystals such as opals, which form as an orderly array of particles, are of great interest to for their potential use in new electronics and optical devices. Surprisingly, the crystals in the meteorite are composed of magnetite, which scientists thought could not assemble into such a crystal because magnetic attractions might pack the atoms together too tightly. ďWe believe that, if synthesized, magnetite colloidal crystals have promising potential as a novel functional material,Ē the article notes.

The formation of colloidal crystals in the meteorite implies that several conditions must have existed when they formed. ďFirst, a certain amount of solution water must have been present in the meteorite to disperse the colloidal particles,Ē the report explains. ďThe solution water must have been confined in small voids, in which colloidal crystallization takes place. These conditions, along with evidence from similar meteorites, suggest that the crystals may have formed 4.6 billion years ago.Ē

August 3, 2011Pressured by White House, Treasury Secretary Is Expected to Stay at PostBy JACKIE CALMES

WASHINGTON ó Timothy F. Geithner, the Treasury secretary and dean of President Obamaís economic team, is expected to stay through the presidentís term after intense White House pressure, according to officials familiar with the discussions.

But Mr. Geithner has not yet notified the White House of his intentions, and family considerations could still win out, advisers say.

Speculation from Washington to Wall Street has intensified because Mr. Geithner, the only holdover at the center of Mr. Obamaís original economic circle, said a month ago that he would decide on his future after the White House and Congress reached a deal to increase the nationís debt ceiling. Mr. Obama signed that deal into law on Tuesday.

Mr. Obama and his chief of staff, William M. Daley, have been urging Mr. Geithner to stay, administration officials say, not only for continuity when the economy has weakened and to avoid an all-but-certain confirmation fight in the Senate over a successor, but also because Mr. Obama has developed a close rapport with Mr. Geithner.

Whether the president persuades Mr. Geithner to stay will be a central development for the White House as it girds for a re-election race expected to turn on the economy and the continuing battle of the budget with Republicans.

Mr. Geithner has been considering an exit since early this year, administration officials say. None would speak directly on what Mr. Obama has said to his Treasury secretary because the two men have private meetings alone once a week.

On Monday, after the previous nightís announcement of the debt accord, Mr. Geithner convened advisers to talk about his future agenda, including dealing with the European debt crisis, housing and overhauling the corporate tax code. Aides say they took that as a clue he was staying, only to wonder on Tuesday, when a photographer came in to capture Mr. Geithner watching the final vote for the debt deal, if the photos were intended as a record of Mr. Geithnerís final days.

Especially in recent weeks, the issue has become a running joke, officials say: Mr. Geithner and Mr. Daley tease about the ankle bracelet that the White House makes him wear, or Mr. Geithner asks if Mr. Daley has yet read his resignation letter, to which Mr. Daley answers in unprintable language.

But the pressure from the top on Mr. Geithner was more serious one day about two weeks ago, officials say. Mr. Daley has also told Mr. Geithnerís top lieutenants ó Deputy Secretary Neal S. Wolin and Mark A. Patterson, the chief of staff ó that he wants them to remain, though Jake Siewert, Mr. Geithnerís counselor, is returning to New York as soon as this week.

Neither Mr. Geithner nor Mr. Daley would comment. ďI havenít made that decision yet,Ē Mr. Geithner said Tuesday in an interview with ABC. He added, ďWeíve got a lot of challenges, presidentís got a lot of challenges, and, you know, I got other pressures on me, too.Ē

Chief among those pressures are his family. Mr. Geithnerís wife and son moved back to New York in June so his son could complete high school there. And Mr. Geithner has been working at a breakneck pace since the early days of the financial crisis in 2007. Formerly president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, he has been among the three top stewards of the economy, along with Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, and the Bush administration Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson.

ďHeís had a tough job during a tough time, and I think heís really slogged through and made some really tough choices,Ē said Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia. ďI can understand why he might want to cash it in.Ē

But, he added, ďMy fear is not only who would you get that would have the experience to grapple with another crisis but also, do we really need a massive confirmation fight?Ē

From the start, Mr. Geithnerís biggest critics have been on the left. But Jared Bernstein, a former member of the administrationís economic team and a liberal economist close to some of the critics, said: ďTo the extent people vilify Tim as only caring about banks, theyíre way off. Heís always understood that Main Street depends on credit from Wall Street, and I know for a fact that he advocated the steps we took for that reason, not to preserve anyoneís capital or profits. Iíve actually heard him say some pretty nasty stuff about those guys.Ē

The prospects of being drawn into an election-year confirmation brawl could deter some who might be considered as Mr. Geithnerís successor. Among those named by people familiar with administration thinking are Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase; Jeffrey R. Immelt, the chairman of General Electric and of Mr. Obamaís Council on Jobs and Competitiveness; Roger Altman, a deputy Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration; and Erskine Bowles, a former White House chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and co-chairman of Mr. Obamaís fiscal commission in 2010.

Some Democrats say Mr. Bowles might be one of the few people who could surmount the opposition of Senate Republicans, given his good relations with some of them after his work on the bipartisan fiscal commission. ďIn rational times, absolutelyĒ Mr. Bowles would be confirmed, Mr. Warner said. ďBut Iím not sure weíre in rational times.Ē

The owner of a Venice health food market and two other people were arrested on charges related to the allegedly unlawful production and sale of unpasteurized dairy products, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said.

The arrests of James Cecil Stewart, Sharon Ann Palmer and Eugenie Bloch on Wednesday marked the latest effort in a government crackdown on the sale of so-called raw dairy products.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles alleged that Stewart, 64, operates a Venice market called Rawesome Foods through which he illegally sold dairy products that did not meet health standards because they were unpasteurized or were produced at unlicensed facilities.

Palmer, 51, has operated Healthy Family Farms in Santa Paula since 2007 without the required licensing for milk production, prosecutors allege. She and her company face nine charges related to the production of unpasteurized milk products.

Bloch, a Healthy Family Farms employee, is charged with three counts of conspiracy.

The arrests followed a one-year investigation during which undercover agents purchased unpasteurized dairy products from Healthy Family Farms stands in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, said Matthew Krasnowski, a district attorney spokesman. The products included unpasteurized goat milk, cheese and yogurt.

The arrests came the same week that federal and state health officials warned the public about a food-borne illness outbreak tied to ground turkey contaminated with antibiotic-resistant salmonella, an outbreak in which one Californian has died and 76 others have fallen ill so far.

It also marks the latest salvo in the government's crackdown on unpasteurized dairy products.

In June 2010 investigators raided the Venice grocery store, seizing stacks of unmarked jugs of raw milk, cartons of raw goat and cow milk, and blocks of unpasteurized goat cheese, among other grocery items. Regulators alleged that Rawesome broke the law by failing to have the proper permits to sell food to the public.

Still, no arrests were made and Rawesome reopened the same week. Stewart said at the time that Rawesome didn't need such permits because it wasn't technically a retailer. He contended that the store was a private club whose members paid an annual fee and service charges to obtain products directly from farmers.

While the raid was taking place in Venice, another was occurring at Palmer's Healthy Family Farms in Ventura County. There, California agriculture officials said, the farm owner's milk processing plant had not met standards to obtain a license to sell raw milk or raw milk products. Shortly after the raid, Palmer was back in business.

Demand for all manner of raw foods has been growing, spurred by heightened interest in locally produced, unprocessed products.

But government regulators contend such products can be dangerous; there is scientific evidence linking disease outbreaks to raw milk. The milk can transmit bacteria, which can result in diarrhea, dangerously high fevers and in some cases death.

Raw milk, in particular, has drawn regulatory scrutiny, largely because the politically powerful dairy industry has pressed the government to act. It is legal for licensed dairies to sell raw milk at retail outlets in California, according to research by the National Conference of State Legislatures. But the number of such outlets has dwindled amid retailer concerns over potential litigation.

There was a time, not all that long ago, when the Pentagon sank tens of millions of dollars into remote-controlled lightning guns that it hoped would fry insurgent bombs before they killed any more troops. Now, disassembled parts from the one-time wonder-weapons are being sold on eBay. At least one buyer snatched up the gear, hoping to use it in his latest art project for Burning Man.

All of which would make for a funny little story, if that buyer didnít discover that the multimillion dollar ďJoint Improvised Explosive Device Neutralizers,Ē or JINs, were kluged together from third-rate commercial electronics, and controlled by open Wi-Fi signals. In other words, the Pentagon didnít just overpay for a flawed weapon. On the off-chance the JIN ever worked, the insurgents could control it, too.

ďThis is the hack of all hacks,Ē says Cody Oliver, a freelance technologist in San Francisco. ďAnd this is what they were selling to the government? Holy shit.Ē

OK, that story is kind of funny, too. In itís own dark way.

It started one day last April, Oliver says. He was brainstorming with sometime-employer, Elon Musk, about their next project for Burning Man. For the last three years, Oliver had built for Musk ďart carsĒ ó tricked-out jalopies ó in the shape of rocket ships that Musk then drove around the festival. (Musk is the founder of the rocket-maker SpaceX, among other firms.) This year, Oliver suggested something different ó a remote-controlled art car. Musk liked the idea. So Oliver started trolling eBay for robotic control systems.

He figured heíd get something industrial grade, that already had all the safety and interference issues sorted out. Oliver quickly found a pair of Omnitech Robotics NGCM1 controllers ó the kind of high-end electronics that ordinarily sold for tens, if not, hundreds of thousands of dollars. Oliver bought a pair for a thousand bucks. He sent his dad down to a nondescript warehouse in Tuscon, Arizona to pick the stuff up.

Oliver knew there was something different about these controllers almost as soon as he took them out the crate. The steering wheel was outfitted with black buttons labeled ďEnable WeaponĒ and ďWeapon On.Ē In the center was a big red button marked, ďSTOP!Ē

Things got more curious when he started poking around the software. There was no password on the gear that was supposed to be outfitted on the robot, so he was able to type ďroot,Ē and get right in. Then he checked out the operatorís equipment, which ran a Java app on Windows XP. He decompiled it, and found a string in the code: ďIONPaysBills=true.Ē

ION was the stock market symbol for Ionatron, the company that managed to convince Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Defense Secretary during the early years of the George W. Bush administration, to give the firm $30 million for its bomb-zappers. Shaped like golf carts, the remote-controlled JINs were supposed to use short-pulse lasers to carve conductive channels in the air. Electricity could then be sent down those channels, frying bombs from a safe distance. A company press release quoted Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel, head of the Pentagonís Joint IED Defeat Task Force as saying, ďThe Ionatron system was just the type of out of the box, new technology solution weíre looking for.Ē

But the JINs never quite lived up to their overheated claims. In early 2006, the Washington Post recounts, two JINs were flown to Afghanistan. At one point, ďthe kill switch failed and the device continued to fire bolts of electricity. Steep mountain terrain and poor roads also proved difficult; one JIN rolled downhill and flipped over.Ē

Eventually, the Pentagon soured on the JINs. Ionatron lost most of its cash, changed its name, and got wrapped up in a series of shareholder lawsuits and insider trading scandals. A couple of years ago, the broken firm reached out to Tusconís Southwest Liquidators, who helped clear the Ionatron warehouse of its useless inventory of electronics. ďWe took it all,Ē says Southwestís Keith Tearne. Then they put it on eBay.

Oliver kept going through the strange gear he had indirectly acquired from Ionatron. The wireless router that was supposed to be mounted on the robot was a standard Linksys model, the kind that filled countless homes with Wi-Fi. There was no encryption, and no password to protect the information. Anyone couldíve tapped in. ďAll the video, all the commands, there were all in the clear, over standard 802.11 Wi-Fi,Ē Oliver says, his voice rising.

There was one difference, though, between this Linksys router and a standard one: The tell-tale blue plastic had been removed, and the serial numbers were carefully shaved off. As if someone didnít want the government to know that they were using commercial parts.

That was fine by Oliver Ė he was using the gear for Burning Man, not for Baghdad. But he figured he ought to e-mail the CEO of Omnitech Robotics, Ionatronís supplier, to find out what was up ó and see if he could get some configuration files. ďI also got a LOL on some of the code statements,Ē Oliver wrote. ďGuess this should read ĎTAXPaysBill = true.íĒ

The CEO, David Parish, quickly answered back. ďThose systems were sold to Ionatron under NDA [nondisclosure agreement] Ö If you openly disclose this type of information and violate NDA or copyrights, you and or Ionatron may be liable for infringement,Ē he wrote. ďAny use of the scrap parts you have is dangerous, at your own risk, and not authorized or supported by Omnitech.Ē

ďThe random comments you noted in some files were software programmers attempt at humor, nothing more. I do not share their sense of humor, and take this compromise and potential threat seriously. I suggest you act responsibly and heed this warning,Ē Parish added.

Oliver eventually dropped the idea of using the Ionatron gear for Burning Man ó and not because of Parishís threat. The gear just seemed too jury-rigged. Its network detector was a wire connected to the ďonĒ light on the front of the router.

ďI just donít trust it,Ē he says.

The military, on the other hand, continues to have some faith in Ionatronís technology, investing additional millions into their lightning weapons. The Marines combined the JIN with a mine-roller, used to crush buried bombs. Then they hung the whole thing in front of a truck, and called it a ďJOLLER.Ē A May 2009, Marine Corps briefing (.pdf) http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2009power/may6gallagher.pdfshows the phallic contraption shooting electricity into the ground. ďLightening Bolt: Pricele$$,Ē it reads.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A primordial collision of two moons that once orbited Earth explains why the present-day moon is a bit lopsided and its far side much rockier than the lunar surface facing our planet, scientists said Wednesday.

Four snapshots from the computer simulation of a collision between the moon and a smaller companion moon show most of the companion moon is accreted as a pancake-shaped layer, forming a mountainous region on one side of the moon. Credit: Reuters/M. Jutzi and E. Asphaug, Nature/University of California Santa Cruz

Research published in the journal Nature suggests the early moon was shadowed by a smaller companion satellite, about one-thirtieth of its own mass, as the two bodies circled the infant Earth in tandem more than 4 billion years ago.

But as the moons evolved further from the Earth, coming under greater influence of the Sun's gravitational force, the stability of their co-orbit was upset, putting them on a collision course, said Erik Asphaug, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

After about 100 million years of cohabitation, the smaller moon finally crashed into the larger moon in an impact that unfolded over several hours and resulted in a merger of the two celestial bodies, Asphaug said.

All this occurred just 80,000 miles from Earth, about a third of its current 250,000-mile distance from the moon.

The violent but slow-motion celestial union explains much about the striking difference between the mountainous far side of the moon and the smoother lunar surface of vast plains visible to Earth in the night sky, the scientists concluded.

Rather than form a giant crater, a low-velocity collision like the one theorized in the study would have piled material up into a thick, jagged layer of solid crust. In fact, the moon's crust is about 30 miles thicker on its far side than on its near side.

The lunar crash also accounts for an overall asymmetry of the moon -- bulging out more on its far side -- not easily explained by tidal forces exerted by the Earth.

Evidence of a collision exists further in variations in the composition of the moon's crust, the near side of which is far richer in potassium, rare-earth elements and phosphorus.

Those elements would have been concentrated in molten material still cooling beneath the moon's surface and splattered away to the opposite side by the force of the impact, Asphaug said.

The research builds on the widely accepted "giant impact" model for the origin of the moon. According to that theory, the moon was created from debris ejected by the last of a series of collisions between the primordial Earth and about 10 Mars-sized proto-planets during the early formation of the solar system.

The study suggests that moon-forming giant impact also created a smaller, companion body that eventually coalesced with the larger satellite to form today's single moon.

EXCLUSIVE: Legendary Pictures is negotiating with Benjamin Walker to play the archangel Michael in Paradise Lost, the action epic battle between good and evil that is inspired by the John Milton poem. Walker, who just wrapped the title role in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, will go mano a mano against Bradley Cooper's Lucifer in what I'm told is the war that began all wars. After being cast out of Heaven, Lucifer mounts an army that battles the forces of good, and the film will have cutting-edge visual effects that will make these battles resemble 300 meets Lord of the Rings -- but with winged warriors. While Warner Bros is finalizing a release date, I'm told Paradise Lost is likely to reach theaters in fourth-quarter 2013.

Production will begin in January in Sydney, which will give Cooper time to star alongside Jennifer Lawrence in the David O Russell-directed The Silver Linings Playbook for The Weinstein Company.

Paradise Lost is a sprawling fantasy epic that has taken seven years of development to get right. It was originally scripted by Byron Willinger and Philip de Blasi, with subsequent drafts by Stuart Hazeldine and Lawrence Kasdan, and the latest draft by Ryan Condal. Paradise Lost is being produced by Legendary's Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni, and Vincent Newman (Red Dawn). The film's logistics are still being worked out with Digital Domain, but the picture is likely to be 3D with soaring set pieces.

I just spoke to Proyas, who is prepping the film in Australia and who created arresting visuals in I, Robot and Dark City. He acknowledges that Paradise Lost is a daunting challenge. Walker's deal isn't closed yet, but Proyas feels he's got two actors who'll represent the good vs. evil battle.

"It's not just armies battling in an epic war," Proyas told me. "This is an adventure about the origins of good and evil after Lucifer's rebellion gets him cast out of Heaven and leads to a struggle with his brother archangel over the soul of mankind, starting with Adam and Eve. That is the scope of the narrative here, and we've tried to say as faithful as possible to Milton's text, particularly its focus on Lucifer's evolution and the birth of evil. It's a family saga, about a group of brothers, two in particular, who are on divergent paths, and Lucifer's feelings of betrayal by his father and family that forge his descent into evil."

There are three major battle set pieces, Proyas said. One that takes place in Heaven, another in Hell, and a third in Eden. "I've sometimes thought that only an insane person would want to make this movie, because it's visually audacious and has to live up to a classic poem that is so beloved," Proyas said. "I don't think the visuals could have been done justice until now, which is the great fun of being a film director in this modern age of visual effects. Despite all those possibilities, the characters are what's most important. His deal isn't closed yet, but I think there's a wonderful duality about Ben's persona, this combination of great strength and perfect innocence that works so well for Michael. And Bradley is the most charming guy you'll ever meet, with this extraordinary charisma. Lucifer was the brightest and smartest of the archangels, and even as he descended into evil and evolved into Satan, he's not just some black-and-white villain. Bradley brings extraordinary depth to that journey."

This is a big get for Walker, who appeared in smaller roles in films like Flags of Our Fathers and Kinsey before winning the role of the 16th president in Fox's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the Timur Bekmambetov-directed adaptation of Seth Grahame Smith's Gothic revisionist novel that will be released by Fox on June 22, 2012. Paradise Lost puts Walker squarely in the mix of top young actors. Walker is repped by WME and Inspire Entertainment.